


Between Worlds  Snapshot #2

by vanhunks



Series: YOUNG CHAKOTAY SNAPSHOTS [2]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Chakotay as child, Gen, River stones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 06:56:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12360048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanhunks/pseuds/vanhunks
Summary: Young Chakotay has an interesting conversation with his grandfather.





	Between Worlds  Snapshot #2

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd short piece in the series "YOUNG CHAKOTAY SNAPSHOTS".

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YOUNG CHAKOTAY SNAPSHOTS #2

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** Between worlds **

 

That day rose clear in his mind as if he had stood right next to his grandfather, seeing the craggy face, the feathered adornments round the old man's head and the smile that was like his father's. Kohana's hair was streaked with grey and trailed down his shoulders almost to his waist. Although the old man appeared stern, he was kind and compassionate, just the way Chakotay remembered him.  

 It was the day he learned he was different.

They had been sitting under a tree on the banks of the stream that was the lifeblood of their village. Down by the water children played, their voices ringing bright and clear and bursting with merriment. Chakotay smiled to himself as he watched them, remembering how only a week ago he'd caught a fish bare-handed a full kilometer downstream where the river was teeming with rainbow fish. He could  see Sekaya and Tadazi splashing water in each other's faces. He loved his sister and little brother fiercely. Then Chakotay looked at his knuckles, still tender from the beating he'd given two boys who had teased her and threw sand in her face. His father had not been very happy that he settled disputes with force, but he had been very angry. He promised Sekaya he'd looked after her one day when their father was no longer with them.

Much further down, where the river rushed over rocks, bigger boys and girls tried to catch fish bare-handed, to their disappointment and equal enjoyment when they came up empty every time. Another little snicker remembering how envious they had been when he'd snagged a large rainbow fish.

The day before he had seen a stone in the river, grey-black and shiny, fitting perfectly in his hand. Absorbed by the unusual clarity of its colour and oval shape, he'd put the stone in his pocket, thinking that he'd visit grandfather Kohana who lived a distance from their own abode near the river. He had collected many river stones, but nothing spoke to him like the one he wanted to show his grandfather.

So they sat side by side under the tree, watching the children, his sister and younger brother, his cousins Tomaso, Wakib and Somaru. They were safe by the river because Tomaso's father sat on the opposite bank watching over them.

"I found this stone yesterday, Grandfather," Chakotay said, showing the old man the stone.

"You have many stones, Chá-kó-tay," said the old man. "Why do you show me this one?"

"Because I like it best. It has touched my heart…here," he replied, resting his palm against his chest. Even then he could feel how his heart began racing as if it spoke to him. "My heart reacts to it every time I touch it, Grandfather."

"Then it is good, young Chá-kó-tay, that you have chosen the right stone."

"Why is it the right stone?" Chakotay asked, frowning. He had many stones displayed on his window shelf. How could this one be the right one?

"Because you chose it without knowing why. Your heart and soul showed the way."

Then Kohana took his knife and began cutting into the stone. Many times the old man gazed up at the sky, as if he were seeking confirmation of an idea. Chakotay could see the pale moon that had not yet succumbed fully to the day. The sun just broke over the hills behind the villages. Then, as if Kohana had thought much about it, he scored the next curl and the next.

Chakotay had learned never to interrupt, not even talk or ask questions while Kohana worked. So he watched engrossed as the knife slowly cut deep into the stone and he could see a pattern emerging. The scraping sound fascinated him more than it annoyed him. Slowly a spiral formed, then diagonal lines, more spirals and more lines. All the time Kohana sat in deep concentration as he created the symbol on the stone. To Chakotay it meant nothing and he thought it was simply a good looking pattern, like the one he had seen on the wall of the _habak_ the day he and Tomaso had stolen into the building and looked about them in the room. Kolopak just shook him and told him not to go there unless he was with an elder, preferably his father. Tomaso's father had no such restraint. His cousin got a sound walloping for being so disobedient. All Kolopak told his son was what a contrary child he was.

When Kohana finished, he blew on the stone and dusted away the fine grains. Chakotay's eyes widened, for in the grooves the white- grey showed, as if his grandfather had painted them. Then Kohana placed the stone in Chakotay's hands.

"What is a contrary, Grandfather?" he asked, reverently caressing the lines with trembling fingers.

"How old are you, son?"

"I am ten in Earth years, Grandfather. I was born on December 11."

"You do not measure in Dorvan years?"

"No, Grandfather."

"And you would embrace technology because you think our ways are too slow and ancient?"

"It is the way forward, Grandfather!"

"There is a legend in our tribe, son, that says if a child lies breech in his mother's womb, he grows up to be a contrary."

"Does it mean I am disobedient?" Chakotay asked, his eyes on Kohana, seeking answers, seeking truth.

"No, Chá-kó-tay. But I can see why your father calls you a contrary. Your eyes seek the stars in the sky. They are restless. You desire to be different and part from our ways."

"But I love this land!" Chakotay blurted, sounding most dismayed. Yet, he couldn't deny wanting to fly like the condor, to spread his wings far away from Dorvan, to use replicators and hovercrafts and devices from which he could learn faster, pilot a shuttle.

Kohana took the stone from Chakotay and pointed to the symbol, tracing the spiral with a bony finger.

"Chá-kó-tay, when I carved this symbol, I did not know what it was going to become. Yes, there are ones like this one in the _habak,_ but I can tell you it was not on my mind to carve this design. It is called a healing symbol, child."

"A healing symbol? Why?"

"The sky spirits guided my hand, son. Mostly when we believe we have injured or hurt something or someone, we draw these lines as a way to heal ourselves and those whom we hurt."

"I have hurt Papa?"

"Perhaps, Chá-kó-tay. When he called you a contrary, it was because you do not fear to be different."

"I do not wish to hurt anyone, Grandfather. This is my land!"

"Let me show you something, son." Kohana pointed to the stone, his fingers tracing the outline of the symbol. "This spiral represents our Milky Way. Tonight when it is dark, and you look up at the sky, you will know what I mean."

"I understand, Grandpa. What about the lines? They join at one end, the right outer end, maybe even beyond that."

"Indeed. Imagine the line is you. What do you think it could mean?"

"I will journey to where the lines converge and then travel back?"

"In your heart, Chá-kó-tay, you have already begun your journey away from Dorvan."

"I will never come back?"

"You will always be caught between worlds, son. And each world will desire to claim you as its own."

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END

 

 


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